Fallout 3 & family stuff

I picked up Fallout 3 yesterday. I played for just over a half hour this morning to make sure the disc is okay. The game reminds me a lot of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and that's good news. I am hoping to get some more time in soon, but I am very deep into Fable 2 (great game) and still need to get into Far Cry 2. My gaming time is virtually nil lately, so this could be a long, drawn out affair. I will say that as of this moment, Fable 2 is my game of the year. Still lots to be played though before I make a final decision on that.

In other news, John is getting ready to make the move into his own bedroom and crib. It's gonna be a hard fought battle. Barb is going to really have a hard time with this. But we just ordered a new video baby monitor, so we'll still be able to keep an eye on him. John did manage to get up just once last night, which was fantastic. The night before he got up 5 times during the night. Barb and I are just zombies all day long because we are not getting any sort of consistent sleep. We went to bed at 8 PM last night. We're real party animals, huh?

That's all for now. Check out our good buddy Dave's site over at Dave's Not Here Man!!! He is doing a bang-up job on his blog.

Oh yeah, 5 more days until the election. THANK GOD!!!

Fable 2

I picked this up and am about 8 hours into it. So far it is first-rate all the way. I am taking my time and branching off of the main quest, so I have not gotten too far into the story. But the beginning of the game sets up the story and it is great stuff. I am anxious to see what unfolds.

The graphics are terrific, the voice acting, sound and music is great and the game plays very nicely. There are a few niggling problems with the controls on occasion and the camera isn't perfect, but those are very minor complaints. The world itself seems buzzing with life.

It's awfully early, too early to give an accurate rating, but what the hell; so far I'd rate this game a solid 9.5. I am so anxious to get back into it.

Far Cry 2 comes out tomorrow. I had been looking more forward to that than Fable 2, but now it's gonna have to wait a while before I get to it.

What has gotten into the Rams?!

Jim Haslett has been the Rams' head coach for 3 weeks now. They have played 2 games under him. In the first game they came out with a tough road win against the Washington Redskins. That was very admirable and a nice way to get Haslett off on the right foot. But what happened yesterday, with the Rams completely dominating the Dallas Cowboys 34-14, was something that no one expected. Yes, Dallas was playing without starting QB Tony Romo. But last time I checked, he doesn't play defense and that's where Dallas really laid an egg. An energized Steven Jackson rolled up 160 yards and 3 TDs against the Cowboys. Rookie WR Donnie Avery made a big play early on a long TD pass and QB Marc Bulger was the model off efficiency that we saw back in 2006.

I was not a big fan of giving the head coaching job to Haslett after Scott Linehan was fired, but I have to admit that he has this team playing at a whole different level of intensity since he became top dog. Next week the Rams travel to New England and it looks like Jackson may very well miss that game because of an injured thigh. The injury came late in the game with the Rams up 34-7, so it's very fair to question why he was still even playing at that point. But the big picture remains bright; under Haslett, the Rams show up ready to play.

The Last Debate

Neither candidate landed a knockout and I really thought it was more of the same. Obama seemed more at ease and frankly more presidential. If anything, he seemed a bit dry and boring again. But he has a substantial lead in the polls, and his even demeanor won't hurt him. He wisely played it safe.

We got flashes of McCain's temper here and there; he never came unglued, but at times he looked very upset and almost shaking as he made his points. He didn't do badly, but he needed to do more than okay.

For the first time I thought McCain looked really old tonight. It seemed magnified to me. His eyes looked very red/glassy at times, too. He came off as the rude guy that always had to get the last word in, whether he was supposed to or not. In the middle part of the debate, my wife and I counted 3 straight subjects where he got to make the last point. Seemed pretty unfair to me, but Obama appeared gracious about it.

I don't know. I hate to pick on the guy because of his appearance because it should be about so much more than that. But once again, he did not present himself well, IMO. He looks extremely uncomfortable, especially when he walks, probably due to his old service wounds. I wish it weren't true, but it is. His obvious, constant disdain for Obama reminded me a great deal of the 2000 debates, when Al Gore showed his disgust for Bush with audible sighs and eye rolls. Ask Al how that worked out for him.

As an aside, I absolutely hate what the guy has become. He should have been able to retire as a man who served his country admirably for a long time. But he ended up embracing the Bush doctrine when it was popular (post 9/11) and hooked his wagon to it. He is now paying the price. One of my greatest disappointments in McCain is that after what Rove and Bush did to him in 2000, he forgave them and joined up. They basically shit on his family and played up the racial prejudice in South Carolina for votes and McCain forgave them. After all of his rants about "agents of intolerance" he ended up embracing Jerry Falwell when it became the politically expedient thing to do. I lost all faith in him then, realizing that (like most candidates) he would simply do whatever it took to get elected. He's no longer a special man, but a political flunky. That saddens me, because for a time there, he was more than that.

I also think that like Bob Dole, his chance came about 10 years too late.

I still think the election could turn at any moment. I'm not counting any chickens before they properly hatch. But if the polls remain accurate and Obama wins, it'll be sad to see the shell of John McCain slip off into oblivion.

Great article on "Troopergate"

So the panel decided that Sarah Palin abused the power of her office by trying to get her state trooper ex-brother-in-law fired. But what does it mean? Here is an excerpt from an excellent article from Time Magazine's web site. Just click on the text to get the full article:

Did Governor Sarah Palin abuse the power of her office in trying to get her former brother-in-law, State Trooper Mike Wooten, fired? Yes.

Was the refusal to fire Mike Wooten the reason Palin fired Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan? Not exclusively, and it was within her rights as the states' chief executive to fire him for just about any reason, even without cause.

Those answers were expected, given that most of the best pieces of evidence have been part of the public record for months. The result is not a mortal wound to Palin, nor does it put her at much risk of being forced to leave the ticket her presence succeeded in energizing.

But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so.

I have seen some people say that this entire investigation was some sort of partisan witch hunt to hurt Mrs. Palin and John McCain's chances of winning the presidential election. Please let's not forget that this investigation was undertaken before she was tabbed as McCain's running mate. Let's also remember that:

The REPUBLICAN Alaska legislature commissioned the investigation.

The REPUBLICAN commission moved with almost unanimity; REPUBLICANS controlled the committee.

The REPUBLICAN appointed Alaska Supreme Court was the end-all be-all on whether that report was released.

And this time line should be mentioned as well:

July 11th - Monegan fired.
July 19th - Monegan tells Anchorage paper he was pressured to fire Wooten.
July 28 - A bi-partisan republican dominate legislative council board vote unanimously to investigate the claims. Oct 31, 2008 is the deadline for a report to be completed.

Thanks to parsifal and jaymcb over at the Current Affairs forum at STLToday.com for that info.

Quick thoughts on tonight's presidential debate

McCain could not answer a question without getting in several attacks on Obama each and every time. I think the negative tone is going to hurt him. Obama, meanwhile, gave answers that were much too long-winded for a great part of the general public. He needs to say more by saying less. So I'd say McCain turned voters off and Obama put them to sleep.

McCain needed a convincing victory and did not get it. The gloves are really going to come off now as McCain has no choice but to pull out all of the stops. These last 4 weeks (not to mention the remaining debate) are going to be U-G-L-Y. This is the wrong year to go completely negative, as it reminds voters of the divisiveness of the Bush politcal machine. Unless something huge happens in the next few weeks, McCain is toast.

Double-murderer convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping

'Nuff said.